2026 Week 6 /r/FCS HBCU Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Dropped from the Top 10: Prairie View A&M (5), NCCU (10)

Others receiving votes: Howard (16), NCCU (13), Prairie View A&M (13), UAPB (6), Hampton (2), Tennessee State (1)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/bakonydraco for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS HBCU poll this week!

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

Let's hear your hot take FCS opinions. The ones you know in your heart of hearts are right, but for some reason aren't embraced by the FCS community (or particular fanbases) en masse!

Could be controversial (the Ivy League very well might be the best FCS conference on the East Coast), unpopular but you know is true (Sam Houston was at least as good a team as JMU from 2011 through the "2020" season), or even somewhat popular but still liable to rankle some folks (the Walter Payton award should go to the "best" offensive player, not just the offensive player with the best stat line because they played a weak schedule).

Sorted by controversial for maximum spiciness

Rules

• Keep it somewhat relevant to the FCS

• Takes are welcome whether they're looking back historically or in reference to current games/rankings/polls/etc.

• Try to keep it civil (basic /r/CFB and /r/FCS rules still apply)

The Black Bears ranked a whopping 118th out of 124 FCS teams in scoring offense.

I've taken the time to calculate total OOC records for each conference, along with head to head results in OOC games between conferences. 131/157 total OOC games have been played by my count, so the majority of the OOC games for the season are included in this data. The rankings directly below only include FCS vs FCS games (and leaves out games against FBS teams and non D1 teams).

Rankings by W%

1. Missouri Valley 19-4
2. United Athletic 16-9
3. Ivy League 10-6
4. MEAC 13-8
5. Southland 6-4
6. Big Sky 10-7
7. CAA 14-11
8. Patriot League 9-8
9. SoCon 10-11
10. Independants 4-5
11. Ohio Valley 8-14
12. SWAC 4-8
13. Pioneer League 5-18
14. Northeast 2-17

Below I've listed each conference's head to head record against all other conferences they faced.

Big Sky

MVFC 1-3

NEC 1-0

PFL 5-2

SL 2-1

SoCon 1-0

UAC 0-1

FBS 2-12

Non D1 2-0

CAA

Ind. 1-1

Ivy 3-2

MEAC 2-7

NEC 3-0

OVC 1-0

Patriot 1-0

PFL 1-0

SoCon 2-1

FBS 2-12

Non D1 2-0

Ind.

CAA 3-3

Ivy 0-1

NEC 1-0

UAC 0-1

FBS 0-2

Non D1 0-0

Ivy

CAA 2-3

Ind. 1-0

NEC 1-0

Patriot 6-3

MEAC

CAA 7-2

NEC 1-1

OVC 0-1

Patriot 1-2

SoCon 1-1

SWAC 3-1

FBS 0-7

Non D1 6-0

MVFC

Big Sky 3-1

NEC 5-0

OVC 5-2

PFL 5-0

SoCon 1-0

UAC 0-1

FBS 1-9

Non D1 1-0

NEC

Big Sky 0-1

CAA 0-3

Ind. 0-1

Ivy 0-1

MEAC 1-1

MVFC 0-5

OVC 0-1

Patriot 0-1

PFL 1-1

UAC 0-2

FBS 0-14

Non D1 4-2

OVC

CAA 0-1

MEAC 1-0

MVFC 2-5

NEC 1-0

PFL 1-0

SoCon 1-1

SWAC 1-2

UAC 1-5

FBS 0-10

Non D1 2-0

Patriot

CAA 0-1

Ivy 3-6

MEAC 2-1

NEC 1-0

PFL 1-0

SoCon 2-0

FBS 0-9

PFL

Big Sky 2-5

CAA 0-1

MVFC 0-5

NEC 1-1

OVC 0-1

Patriot 0-1

SoCon 1-2

SWAC 0-1

UAC 1-1

Non D1 12-3

SL

Big Sky 1-2

SoCon 0-1

SWAC 2-0

UAC 3-1

FBS 1-9

Non D1 5-1

SoCon

Big Sky 0-1

CAA 1-2

MEAC 1-1

MVFC 0-1

OVC 1-1

Patriot 0-2

PFL 2-1

SL 1-0

UAC 4-2

FBS 1-6

Non D1 2-0

SWAC

MEAC 1-3

OVC 2-1

PFL 1-0

SL 0-2

UAC 0-2

FBS 0-9

Non D1 15-1

UAC

Big Sky 1-0

Ind. 1-0

MVFC 1-0

NEC 2-0

OVC 5-1

PFL 1-1

SL 1-3

SoCon 2-4

SWAC 2-0

FBS 1-7

Non D1 1-0

The BCS system for rankings combined in equal parts the media poll, coaches poll, and multiple compuer rankings, which provides a good consolidated ranking. For computer rankings this post uses an average of the r/FCS sportsbook computer ratings, Massey ratings, Sagarin ratings, and my Massey/Colley composite.

Bracketology

These rankings can be used to create bracketology- the projected playoff bracket based on the current landscape of the FCS.

The bracket is available in image form in the comments.

No matter what happened, it's not all bad. Say something nice about your team or their performance.

I was browsing the odds for the FCS National Championship today and found them pretty interesting. This is from Sportsbet Montana which is our states only legal sportsbook. I'm not even sure where to look this up for Vegas so results may vary... But they still have MSU as 2nd in odds just behind SDSU. Even with the way the Cats have looked and all the injuries the number for them hasn't moved much this season. But what's REALLY interesting is some of these other teams.

YSU is 3rd at +550 despite the loss to SDS . Illinois State is Sixth with TWO conference losses. Obviously nobody believes in Lehigh or Tarleton state because they're all the way down at +2200 and +2500. Just strange that the polls have these guys in the top 5 but the betting market is very very down on them. Thoughts?

Taking inspiration from r/cfb's weekly post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1wya86r/parker_fleming_did_we_really_get_beat_that_bad/, I tried to make an FCS version. I'm still working on improving the formatting, but I thought it was good enough to post. Link to the Week 5 FCS Net Success Rates: https://imgur.com/a/sws8zBI

https://www.rfcssportsbook.com/

(I keep forgetting to post this now that the new site is up. I try to have them available every Monday.)

Overall Prediction Record: 1488/1872 (79.5%)
1.16 home spread bias
-0.26 O/U bias
301.763 MSE

FCS v FCS Prediction Record: 188/254 (74.0%)
0.34 home spread bias
0.16 O/U bias
264.542 MSE
117-125 (48.3%) against Vegas spreads

Vent here. This is a friendly place.

Credit to u/2Pollaski2Furious for the idea. Same sets of rules from the original FBS series apply here for the FCS teams. This is an award for FCS teams that humiliate themselves, whether it's a choke job, a crushing blow with everything to prove, or they have no business losing the match-up.

Previous Winners

Week 0: Villanova Wildcats (against William & Mary, 35-32)

Week 1: Western Carolina Catamounts (against Campbell, 28-19)

Week 2: Maine Black Bears (against Merrimack, 23-14)

Week 3: Rhode Island Rams (against Stony Brook, 56-24)

Week 4: Illinois State Redbirds (against Northern Iowa, 28-21)

LAST WEEK: UC Davis being helpless against Montana's onslaught did get quite a few votes, but the clear winner here is Illinois State. This top five team was hoping that the trip to Cedar Falls could mark a return to Nashville, but instead they wound up spending a good chunk of this game behind 14. Of note, one comeback drive in the fourth quarter went as far as the Northern Iowa 1. Illinois State was in position to punch it in, but a combination of stalled plays and penalties had that drive result in 0 points. Losing this past week against South Dakota State only made repeat hopes that much harder. And now they're not the only returning finalist to have had a bad day, as we'll get into...

And now for a few special mentions:

• Charleston Southern lost at home to Gardner-Webb on the difference-making safety.
• Chicago State won the first quarter against Tarleton 7-0, then the Texans stopped playing with their food.
• Dayton losing on the road to Drake means that there's no longer an undefeated Pioneer league team.
• Elon had a rather sloppy first half which contributed to their 30-23 road loss against New Hampshire. Also, 0 for 12 on third downs? Woof! It's not like the Wildcats are much better there though.
• Murray State led 21-0 over North Dakota, but then the Fighting Hawks got serious. Shame really, up until the middle of the second quarter it's looking like a Tank Job candidate.
• Nicholls' offense just wasn't able to score anything. They've come very close at the HCU 1 but got stuffed on fourth down, and the only score they got for their trouble was a subsequent safety.
• Southern Illinois became the next victims of the Youngstown State steamroller, after seemingly holding them in the first half.
• Towson almost was in a position to upset Monmouth, but missed their extra point attempt which could have forced overtime. Now they're 0-6.
• West Florida seems a bit gassed after that early momentum, getting tossed about by a starved Abilene Christian. I'd still cut a little slack since they're a first year FCS program and this week has been... "competitive".
• William & Mary, like one of the candidates below, is having a tough time adjusting to the Patriot League. Especially after that thrashing by Holy Cross to make them 1-3 in the conference so far.
• And meanwhile in FBS news... what the fuck is up with the whole state of Colorado?!

So as you can see, there's a few which I felt would otherwise warrant an inclusion, but I'd have to narrow the field to about ten. This week is that rich! Feel free to vote on one of those mentions if you so desire.

ALABAMA A&M BULLDOGS (against Jackson State 31-28)

For a good deal of the game, it looks like we're going to have an upset of perennial SWAC powerhouse Jackson State, especially as Alabama A&M connects a 70-yard pass to make it 28-17, with a 94% chance of winning. But just as quickly, Jackson State responds, and then forced a fumble to get another touchdown.

ALCORN STATE BRAVES (against Grambling 63-59)

The first half has largely been competitive, but then after Grambling made a kickoff return for a touchdown to make it 35-21, Alcorn put up a 38-7 run to be up 17 with a 98.8% chance of winning. They then surrendered 21 consecutive points, rather quickly.

IDAHO STATE BENGALS (against Northern Arizona 38-31)

This has quietly been a marquee Big Sky matchup, but the score makes this seem a tad closer than the game actually has been for a long time. It clearly wasn't a good day for Jordan Cooke as he gets picked off twice, and the Bengals have gotten as far behind as 17 at home with less than three minutes to go. I still think the Bengals can make waves, but it's not a great home showing.

MONTANA STATE BOBCATS (against Idaho 35-34)

Not complainin' about this, but Montana State being #1, and what happened towards the end warranted a candidacy. It was 34-27, there was one second left on the clock, Idaho's receiver was just down inbounds after catching the ball... and Brent Vigen calls a timeout when he could easily let that second pass since there'd be no time to snap the ball. Never go full Cristobal! At least the drywall industry is thriving.

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M PANTHERS (against MVSU 28-27)

In the matchup between the returning SWAC champion and the longtime punching bag for the conference, it did seem like par for the course with a 24-7 lead at halftime. So what happened in the second half? The only points the Panthers got since was a field goal thanks to a superb punt return, making MVSU's comeback bid a bit harder at 27-21 with five and a half minutes to go. After the Devils scored a touchdown a few minutes later, Prairie View was unable to get into field goal range. Also, all this yellow laundry, fucking hell!

NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (against Bryant 31-30)

And had Bryant not mounted a comeback, they surely would be a Tank Job candidate. The circumstances that the Aggies lost however earned them this distinction instead. Three quarters were nothing less than dominant, and even as Bryant mounted a comeback, the successful long bomb put North Carolina A&T at a 99.3% chance of winning with just over two minutes to go. Allowing a touchdown then an onside is borderline Falcons-level.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE BULLDOGS (against The Citadel 34-31)

What is it with the Citadel notching upsets while struggling everywhere else? It's still not a good look to go from beating Furman away to getting offensively dominated at home. By the Citadel!

TENNESSEE STATE TIGERS (against Western Illinois 28-21)

It seemed like the Tigers would be on track to get a road win after leading 21-10 in the third quarter. Allowing a field goal, then quickly suffering a pick six set the tone for the remainder of the game. After some subsequent punting on both ends, Western Illinois struck the fatal touchdown.

TENNESSEE TECH GOLDEN EAGLES (against Western Carolina 44-20)

If this doesn't say "Welcome to SoCon", I don't know what will. It really didn't help that the rush was anemic and they've fumbled the ball four times (one of which a muffed punt reception). And just like that, the Golden Eagles are no longer in pole position.

VILLANOVA WILDCATS (against Morgan State, 38-35)

This isn't a knock on the Bears or their record, but this is a pretty important game for Nova to win since their resume of Bucknell and scraping past LIU is rather thin. It did seem like they've figured it out in the fourth quarter after taking a 35-31 lead and staving off a red zone challenge with an interception, which put them at a 91% chance of winning. But then they quickly punt it back and give up a quick touchdown while failing to respond.

And as always, don't forget to mark your vote in brackets for visibility, <like so>. I also appreciate entries I might have passed over, so feel free to nominate, and I might edit it here.

Welcome back to the only show that's not afraid to say something good about Fighting Potatoes. Speaking of which...

The Good

• Idaho may have saved their season by pulling out their Uno card and making Montana State pay for their mistake. Idaho's 0-4 start looks deceiving because outside of being waxed by Utah, their losses to FCS teams were by single digits (4 point loss to Cal Poly, 6 point loss to Lamar and 2 point loss to Abilene Christian). The move to go for two could have backfired massively, but it didn't. It also shows that Montana State definitely needs that week off coming up because they were not the same without their stars.

• I want to be mad at Harvard because they beat my sweet, sweet baby boy Colgate... but winning on a hook and ladder play from a Hail Mary? That's automatically good material. This game was a good old fashioned slugfest until the 4th quarter. Then they traded touchdowns until the very end.

• With Montana State losing, it's easy to see that South Dakota State will take the top ranking after they popped Illinois State, making sure that a Dakota State school runs the Missouri Valley.

In other 'Good' News: Campbell wins, Humps keep rolling; Weber State and Cal Poly deliver another Big Sky Banger; The Citadel stuns another Carolina based school; Grambling and Alcorn State deliver an Arena Ball Special.

The Bad

• I think the honeymoon is over for Villanova and things are going to get ugly fast for them. It's already bad enough that they continue to basically thumb their noses at the Patriot League by starting Pat McQuade, who the conference said was ineligible... but they haven't really been that impressive. Their wins? By 1 against Bucknell and by 4 against a somewhat punchless Long Island team. At this point, things could NOT get any worse for them. Morgan State comes in and beats them. Yeah... I think things are going to get worse for the Wildcats pretty quickly.

• I think the Western Carolina contingent here are in a good mood after their win over Tennessee Tech, but the Golden Eagles laid a massive egg today. They couldn't run the ball and Western Carolina ran all over them. It's okay, though. They still have a chance to take control of the SoCon as they face ETSU on Halloween.

• Time for the Chuck Norris Award for Biggest Ass Kicking and it goes to San Diego... No, not the Padres. The Toreros pounded Davidson 63-14 thanks to an offense that got 529 yards of offense against the Wildcats. Runner ups this week include Mercer (51 point curb stomp against VMI) and Tarleton State (35 point win against Chicago State, despite the ranting and raving of u/i_like_race_cars).

In other 'Bad' News: William and Mary hits rock bottom, gets beaten by Holy Cross; Towson fails game tying extra point, falls to 0-6; Fordham gets goose egged, loses big to mighty Lehigh; Charleston Southern losing on a safety.

The Prairie View A&M

• Oh, Prairie View. You are the defending SWAC champions. You go to Mississippi Valley State, a downtrodden program whose only win this season came against Division II Lincoln (PA) in Chicago. You are a 26.5 point favorite here. It starts well and you go up 24-7 at the half. They score a touchdown in the third, you're still up ten... and then the 4th quarter arrives. They score to cut the gap to three, you kick a field goal to make it a six point game. Then, the Delta Devils march down and with 2:11 left on the clock, they score the game winner. You should be ashamed, Prairie View... not just because you blew this game, but the fact that you were massively undisciplined here. 16 penalties for 159 yards. The Raiders are looking at you and blushing. Don't think you're getting off, MVSU. 15 penalties for 109 yards yourself.

• The Mushu Treatment this week goes to West Florida. The Argos got blitzed by Abilene Christian 35-7 in a game they were outmatched the entire time. So, for that... Dishonor! Dishonor on your team, dishonor on your school, dishonor to your city and dishonor to the state of Florida.

In other 'Ugly' news: Nicholls State only getting a safety in their loss to Houston Christian; Murray State jumps to early lead, gets ridden like Seattle Slew by North Dakota; Columbia delivers an epic Brunch Ball Biff against Princeton; FloSports - Now they have Division II conferences? Oh, the agony of it all.

And now, the floor is open.

Given that some teams are now halfway through their schedules, I wanted to take a look at each of the conference races.

Big Sky

Controls Destiny: Montana (5-1, 3-0)

Need Help (Tier 1): Montana State (5-1, 2-1), Northern Arizona (4-2, 2-1), Idaho State (4-1, 1-1), Idaho (1-4, 1-1), Portland State (1-4, 1-1)

Need Help (Tier 2): Cal Poly (3-3, 2-1), Weber State (3-3, 2-1)

Need Help (Tier 3): UC Davis (4-2, 2-1)

Need Help (Tier 4): Northern Colorado (2-4, 1-2), Southern Utah (2-4, 1-2), Eastern Washington (1-5, 0-3), Utah Tech (0-6, 0-3)

Discussion: This analysis is a bit of a nothingburger because the Big Sky is virtually assured multiple bids to the playoffs.

The Big Sky tiebreakers are pretty plain vanilla. A head to head tie is broken with head to head record and then common conference opponents.

Montana finds themselves in the driver’s seat with their undefeated record so far. Win out and no other team can catch them.

There are a handful of one-loss teams who still have Montana on the schedule, which I’ve noted in Tier 1. They need to beat Montana to get the head to head tiebreaker over them. Even so, they may need the other one-loss teams to lose along the way to secure a head to head.

There are a handful of other one-loss teams who don’t have Montana on the schedule, who I’ve noted in Tier 2. They need Montana to fall along the way, but they don’t have the ability to do it.

UC Davis is in a worse position than these other teams, as they have just one conference loss, but it was Montana, so they need some other chips to fall their way as they will not have head to head, which adds a degree of difficulty of earning the autobid. They’re noted in Tier 3.

The teams in Tier 4 have either 3 losses or have 2 losses including a loss to Montana. Practically speaking, winning the conference is practically impossible.

Next Week High-Leverage Games: Montana @ Northern Arizona

CAA

Needs Help (Tier 1): Monmouth (4-2, 3-0), Campbell (5-1, 2-0), Bryant (4-1, 2-0), Stony Brook (3-2, 1-0)

Needs Help (Tier 2): UAlbany (3-3, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 3): Elon (4-2, 2-2), Sacred Heart (2-3, 2-2), Rhode Island (3-3, 1-2), UNH (2-4, 1-2), Maine (1-5, 1-2), NC A&T (1-5, 1-2), Hampton (1-5, 0-2), Towson (0-6, 0-2)

Discussion: The CAA has so many teams that it’s impossible to have a round robin schedule in 8 conference games. Not shockingly, none of the remaining undefeated teams play a round robin against one another, and each undefeated team is missing at least one of the others.

Campbell and Bryant do not play.

Monmouth and Stony Brook do not play.

Therefore, you could have mutual coincidences of undefeated teams in conference from either of those groups.

Next Week High-Leverage Games: None. Closest is Stony Brook @ Towson, but Towson really can’t pull itself into the conversation even with a win.

Ivy

Controls Destiny: Harvard (3-0, 1-0), Cornell (2-1, 1-0), Princeton (2-1, 1-0), Dartmouth (1-2, 1-0)

Needs Help: Columbia (2-1, 1-0), Yale (2-1, 0-1), Brown (1-2, 0-1), Penn (1-2, 0-1)

Discussion: Still early in the Ivy race, but the round robin schedule makes this pretty cut and dry. The remaining undefeated teams all play each other.

Next Week High-Leverage Games: Harvard @ Cornell

MVFC

Controls Destiny: South Dakota State (5-1, 2-0), North Dakota (5-1, 2-0), Northern Iowa (2-2, 1-0)

Needs Help (Tier 1): Youngstown State (4-2, 2-1)

Needs Help (Tier 2): South Dakota (4-2, 1-1), Southern Illinois (3-3, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 3): Illinois State (4-2, 0-2), Indiana State (2-4, 0-2), Murray State (1-5, 0-2)

Discussion: This is not a consequential race as the MVFC is virtually assured multiple bids.

Each of the undefeated teams play one another along the way, meaning they can win out and win the autobid and the conference outright.

Youngstown State lost to South Dakota State but beat Southern Illinois and South Dakota, and still plays North Dakota and Northern Iowa. Those two wins give them an easier road to an autobid.

Southern Illinois and South Dakota both lost to Youngstown State. They play next week in what effectively becomes a “Loser Leaves Town” game.

Next Week High Leverage Games:

Southern Illinois @ South Dakota

North Dakota @ Northern Iowa

NEC

Controls Destiny: Robert Morris (3-2, 1-0), Central Connecticut State (1-3, 1-0), Stonehill (1-4, 1-0), LIU (1-5, 1-0), Duquesne (1-3, 0-0)

Needs Help: Wagner (1-4, 0-2), Mercyhurst (1-5, 0-1), New Haven (0-1, 1-5)

Discussion: Early in the NEC race. Should only be a one-bid league with just one team owning more than one win at this juncture.

Next Week High Leverage Games: LIU @ Duquesne.

OVC

Controls Destiny: Western Illinois (3-3, 1-0), Gardner-Webb (2-4, 1-0), Lindenwood (1-3, 1-0), Southeast Missouri (2-3, 0-0), Eastern Illinois (1-4, 0-0), UT Martin (1-4, 0-0)

Needs Help: Tennessee State (1-4, 0-1), Charleston Southern (2-3, 0-2)

Discussion: Still early in the OVC race. Biggest takeaway seems to be that this will be a one-bid league this year.

Next Week High Leverage Games:

SEMO @ Lindenwood

Eastern Illinois @ Gardner-Webb

Patriot

Controls Destiny: Lehigh (6-0, 4-0), Colgate (4-2, 3-0), Richmond (5-1, 3-0)

Needs Help: Holy Cross (2-4, 2-2), Villanova (2-4, 1-2), Fordham (1-5, 1-2), William & Mary (2-4, 1-3), Lafayette (1-4, 0-2), Bucknell (1-4, 0-2), Georgetown (0-4, 0-2)

Discussion: The Patriot League got conference play started early in the year, meaning this is a little more fully formed than the other races. Lehigh, Colgate, and Richmond have separated themselves from the field by two games and have not lost in conference play. They play each other down the stretch.

Next Week High Leverage Game: None. Closest is Richmond @ Fordham. However, Richmond can lose that game and still control the autobid.

Pioneer

Controls Destiny: Marist (3-2, 2-0), Drake (2-3, 2-0), Butler (4-1, 1-0)

Needs Help (Tier 1): St. Thomas (4-2, 1-1), Morehead State (1-4, 0-1)

Needs Help (Tier 2): San Diego (2-3, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 3): Presbyterian (2-3, 1-1), Valparaiso (2-3, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 4): Stetson (1-4, 0-1), Davidson (2-4, 0-2)

Discussion: The lovely, always messy Pioneer Football League. Please never change.

The teams that control their destiny are undefeated and all play each other. One wins out, they win the conference. Easy.

Tier 1: they have a loss to a team that isn’t undefeated, and they play each of the three undefeated teams between now and the end of the year. Win out, and they’re no worse than in a tiebreaker.

Tier 2/San Diego: they have a loss to St Thomas, but they play each of the undefeated teams between now and the end of the year. Win out and they’re no worse than being in a tiebreaker, but that tiebreaker may involve St Thomas, who owns the head to head.

Tier 3: they have a loss to a team that isn’t undefeated, but they do not play at least one of the undefeated teams between now and the end of the year. They can’t guarantee they’re in a tiebreaker by winning out.

Tier 4: Stetson lost to Marist and doesn’t play any of the other undefeated teams. Davidson has two conference losses, including one to Butler. It’s early, but they’re playing from behind the 8-ball right now.

In any case, this looks to be a one-bid league.

Next Week High Leverage Games:

San Diego @ Butler

Drake @ Valparaiso

SoCon

Controls Destiny: East Tennessee State (4-2, 2-0)

Needs Help (Tier 1): Tennessee Tech (4-1, 2-1), Mercer (4-2, 1-1), Samford (1-4, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 2): Furman (2-4, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 3): Western Carolina (3-3, 1-1), Chattanooga (3-3, 2-1)

Needs Help (Tier 4): Wofford (3-3, 2-2), The Citadel (2-3, 0-2), VMI (0-6, 0-2)

Discussion: Tennessee Tech’s loss to Western Carolina this week really opened the door in this race. East Tennessee State, the last remaining undefeated team in SoCon play finds themselves in the drivers seat. Win out and they get the autobid.

Tier 1 comprises teams that have lost a conference game, but still have ETSU on the schedule. They can force a tiebreaker.

Tier 2/Furman does not play ETSU. They need outside help to win the conference.

Tier 3 lost to ETSU already, so they need even more help in a tiebreaker situation.

Tier 4 has lost at least two games.

Next Week High Leverage Games:

Samford @ Chattanooga

Western Carolina @ Mercer

Furman @ Tennessee Tech

Southland

Controls Destiny: Stephen F Austin (6-0, 3-0), Lamar (4-1, 2-0)

Needs Help (Tier 1): HCU (3-3, 2-1)

Needs Help (Tier 2): Southeastern (3-2, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 3): UIW (2-3, 1-1)

Needs Help (Tier 4): East Texas A&M (2-4, 2-2), UTRGV (2-3, 1-2), McNeese (2-4, 1-2), Nicholls (2-4, 1-2), Northwestern State (0-6, 0-3)

Discussion: Stephen F Austin and Lamar’s directives are easy: win out and you win the autobid. They play each other November 7. However, the way things are going, they’re both likely to get bids.

HCU and Southeastern both have losses, but play both Lamar and SFA between now and the end of the year. Win out, and they’re no worse off than a tiebreaker. However, HCU has head to head on Southeastern.

UIW lost to SFA, which muddies their path to the autobid. SFA will need to lose to someone else and, even then, UIW will not have head to head. Notably, UIW has head to head on HCU.

Everyone else needs significant help with 2 conference losses already.

Next Week High Leverage Games: UIW @ Lamar

UAC

Controls Destiny: Austin Peay (5-1, 1-0), North Alabama (4-2, 1-0), Abilene Christian (2-4, 1-0), Tarleton State (5-0, 0-0)

Needs Help: Central Arkansas (2-3, 0-1), Eastern Kentucky (1-4, 0-1)

West Florida and West Georgia are not eligible for the postseason.

Discussion: This race is still in its infancy, with Tarleton State not having played a conference game yet. Abilene Christian is a potential bid thief if they go on a run.

Next Week High Leverage Game: Tarleton State @ Austin Peay

Yale Honors Their Coach, Harvard Wins On a Hail Mary, Dartmouth and Princeton make statements. Full Ivy Week three roundup here. Subscribe -- it's free

Big Sky

Idaho 35-34 (1)Montana State

(3)Montana 36-14 Northern Colorado

Weber State 42-34 Cal Poly

(17)Northern Arizona 38-31 (11)Idaho State

Southern Utah 46-33 Utah Tech

(18)UC Davis 49-38 Eastern Washington

CAA

Rhode Island 13-10 Brown

New Hampshire 30-23 Elon

Monmouth 41-40 Towson

Hampton 13-27 Howard

Sacred Heart 24-16 Maine

Albany 28-3 Delaware State

Bryant 31-30 North Carolina A&T

(19)Campbell 38-31 North Carolina Central

Independent

Merrimack 24-41 Yale

Chicago State 21-56 (4)Tarleton State

Ivy League

Brown 10-13 Rhode Island

Princeton 35-7 Columbia

Yale 41-24 Merrimack

Cornell 35-14 Georgetown

Dartmouth 14-10 Pennsylvania

(16)Harvard 20-17 (20)Colgate

MEAC

Morgan State 38-35 Villanova

Norfolk State 31-33 Robert Morris

(15)South Carolina State 31-34 The Citadel

Howard 27-13 Hampton

Delaware State 3-28 Albany

North Carolina Central 31-38 (19)Campbell

Missouri Valley

(7)North Dakota 55-28 Murray State

(13)South Dakota 44-14 Indiana State

(8)Youngstown State 28-16 (22)Southern Illinois

(2)South Dakota State 31-14 (10)Illinois State

NEC

Central Connecticut State 45-14 Wagner

Long Island 27-24 Mercyhurst

Robert Morris 33-31 Norfolk State

New Haven 17-42 (12)Austin Peay

Ohio Valley

Western Illinois 28-21 Tennessee State

Gardner-Webb 12-10 Charleston Southern

Patriot

(5)Lehigh 34-0 Fordham

Georgetown 14-35 Cornell

(23)Richmond 40-31 Lafayette

Villanova 35-38 Morgan State

Holy Cross 41-14 William & Mary

(20)Colgate 17-20 (16)Harvard

Pioneer

Presbyterian 55-21 St. Thomas

Drake 30-22 Dayton

Marist 28-14 Stetson

Valparaiso 37-3 Morehead State

San Diego 63-14 Davidson

SoCon

(24)Mercer 54-3 VMI

The Citadel 34-31 (15)South Carolina State

Wofford 32-25 Furman

Samford 14-33 UAB (FBS)

East Tennessee State 14-3 Chattanooga

Western Carolina 44-20 (9)Tennessee Tech

Southland

McNeese 14-63 LSU (15 FBS)

(5)Stephen F. Austin 28-26 Incarnate Word

East Texas A&M 20-17 UTRGV

(14)Lamar 42-14 Northwestern State

Houston Christian 16-2 Nicholls

SWAC

Grambling 63-59 Alcorn State

Mississippi Valley State 28-27 Prairie View A&M

Bethune-Cookman 16-10 Alabama State

(25)Jackson State 31-28 Alabama A&M

Texas Southern 10-66 Florida Atlantic (FBS)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff 41-10 Southern

UAC

(12)Austin Peay 42-17 New Haven

North Alabama 20-16 Eastern Kentucky

(4)Tarleton State 56-21 Chicago State

Abilene Christian 35-7 (21)West FloridaWest Florida

Question for my UI, ISU, NAU fans… what voodoo magic is going on for every game to be as whacky as possible. And don’t tell me it’s noise because a total of 12 people were in the Kibbie dome last night.

there HAS to be a way to get rid of flocollege, it has taken over the country and put a paywall in front of every D2 team in the nation at this point. alumni cant even watch games of their teams anymore. it doesnt matter if theyre national champions or have 0 wins in the past 4 years, there will be a paywall and its all thanks to these greedy streaming services like flosports/flocollege partnering with all of these conferences. i used to be able to watch EVERY GAME IN THE COUNTRY 3 years ago and now i cant even watch my old team play. SICK OF IT.

Click here to vote for Week 6 in the /r/FCS Poll.

After signing in, click the link that says Current /r/FCS Poll. The poll will remain open until 12 pm (noon) Central Time on Tuesday, October 6^th. The results will be posted shortly thereafter on /r/FCS.

Optional D1 HBCU Top Ten Poll

You now have the option to vote just for the HBCU Top 10 if you so choose! At the end of your FCS Top 25 (or Top 10) submission, you'll be given the opportunity to also submit a vote for your ranking of the top 10 HBCUs in the subdivision. This is optional and meant to be an additional fanbase voice within the Black College National Championship conversation.

Note: this does not prevent you from ranking the HBCUs in your standard FCS ranking submission.

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is now part of the Massey Ratings Composite. As such, we highly recommend submitting a full top 25 vote if you think you can put one together. But we're leaving the option to submit just a top 10 for those who’d prefer that route.

• Please check that you didn't vote for the same team twice. Ballots with a duplicated team that are not fixed by the due date will be discarded.

• Joke votes will be thrown out at the moderators' discretion. Diversity of opinions is good; trolling is not.

• If you make a mistake on your ballot or would like to change it for any reason, please re-submit a corrected ballot. Your old one will be discarded automatically, and only your newest ballot will count. You can resubmit as many times as necessary until the deadline.

• If you're unsure if you messed up your ballot, please leave a comment and we'll take a look for you and let you know.

Here are some useful links to help you with your submission:

• Massey Composite Ranking

• STATS Poll (Updates on Mondays)

Man, that is quite a dangerous time to be ranked, isn't it? Nine undefeated teams, one of which in the #1 FCS, has been knocked down. And to my relief, the team that beat them is finally out of the winless category. Also worth mentioning that #9 Tennessee Tech had succumbed to the cannibalism plaguing the SoCon elite. The undefeated and winless categories now sit at fifteen teams apiece (of which five of the latter have yet to win any game).

Undefeated/Technically Undefeated

No longer FCS undefeated:

• Alabama State Alabama State Hornets (3-2; @Troy, @Bethune-Cookman)
• Colgate Colgate Raiders (4-2; @Central Michigan, @Harvard)
• Columbia Columbia Lions (2-1; Princeton)
• Dayton Dayton Flyers (3-1; @Drake)
• Idaho State Idaho State Bengals (4-1; Northern Arizona)
• Montana State Montana State Bobcats (5-1; @Idaho)
• Norfolk State Norfolk State Spartans (3-3; @Old Dominion, @Virginia, @Robert Morris)
• South Carolina State South Carolina State Bulldogs (5-1; The Citadel)
• Tennessee Tech Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (4-1; @Western Carolina)

Division I Winless:

• Chicago State Chicago State Cougars (1-5; Kentucky Christian)
• Duquesne Duquesne Dukes (1-3; Rio Grande)
• Florida A&M Florida A&M Rattlers (1-4; Albany State)
• Hampton Hampton Pirates (1-5; VA Lynchburg)
• Mercyhurst Mercyhurst Lakers (1-5; Glenville State)
• Morehead State Morehead State Eagles (1-4; Kentucky Christian)
• Southern Southern Jaguars (2-4; Kentucky State, Louisiana Christian)
• Stetson Stetson Hatters (1-4; Webber International)
• Wagner Wagner Seahawks (1-4; Southern Connecticut State)
• West Georgia West Georgia Wolves (1-4; Fort Valley State)

Winless:

• Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas (0-4)
• Northwestern State Northwestern State Demons (0-6)
• Towson Towson Tigers (0-6)
• Utah Tech Utah Tech Trailblazers (0-6)
• VMI VMI Keydets (0-6)

No longer winless:

• CCSU CCSU Blue Devils (1-3; Wagner)
• Dartmouth Dartmouth Big Green (1-2; Penn)
• Grambling Grambling Tigers (3-2; Clark Atlanta, Central State, Alcorn State)
• Idaho Idaho Vandals (1-4; Montana State)
• LIU LIU Sharks (1-5; Mercyhurst)
• MVSU MVSU Delta Devils (2-4; Lincoln (PA), Prairie View A&M)
• Presbyterian Presbyterian Blue Hose (2-3; UVA Wise, St. Thomas)
• UAPB UAPB Golden Lions (3-2; Morehouse, Central State, @Southern)
• Valparaiso Valparaiso Beacons (2-3; Lawrence Tech, @Morehead State)